


Fire in the Sky

by LibraryMage



Series: Ktavnukkah 5777 [1]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Autistic Character, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 03:07:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9052729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: As their pilots attack the Death Star, all the rebels left on the ground can do is wait.Written for day 1 of Ktavnukkah.  Prompt: miracles.





	

Ezra was staring at the floor, listening intently to what was happening in the war room.  He was so focused on it that he didn’t sense anyone approaching and jumped at the feeling of someone’s hand on his shoulder.  He looked up to see Kanan standing beside him, a worried look on his face.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No,” Ezra said quietly, his shoulders slumping.  For a second, he’d considered lying and telling Kanan he was fine.  But what was the point?  Kanan would know he was lying, and as much as he wanted to hold out hope, there was a good chance they could both be dead in the next few minutes.

“Ezra, it’s okay to be scared,” Kanan said, putting his arm around Ezra’s shoulders.  “We all are.”

“It’s not -- I'm not scared of dying,” Ezra said.  He leaned against Kanan’s side, taking comfort in the warmth and pressure of his touch.  “It just feels…hopeless.  Like there’s no way we can win this fight.  What are a handful of starfighters gonna do against a battle station the size of a planet?”

“We’ve faced worse than this,” Kanan said.  Empty words.  They both knew it.

“We’ve never faced anything like this,” Ezra said.  “And we can't do anything about it from down here.”

“The best pilots in the Alliance are up there right now,” Kanan said.  “If anyone can do this, they can.”

Ezra felt a small twinge of guilt.  He knew Kanan was putting up a front, trying to stay strong for him, but Ezra could feel the fear Kanan was trying so hard to bury.  He was terrified that, even if they won this battle, they could still lose Hera and Sabine.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Ezra said, echoing his master’s words back at him.  Kanan’s grip around Ezra’s shoulders tightened, a silent _thank you_ and _I love you_ and _I hope you survive this_ and other things that didn’t have words to go with them.

“I'm worried about them, too,” Ezra whispered.

“I'm hit!” a voice crackled over the comms in the war room.  Ezra stiffened.  That was Sabine’s voice.  He pulled away from Kanan, getting closer to the door so he could hear what was happening.

“This is Phoenix Leader.  I have to make an emergency landing.”  Sabine sounded calm, but Ezra and Kanan both knew her well enough to hear that edge of panic in her voice.

“Copy that.”  That voice was Phoenix Two.  “Don’t worry.  We’ve got this.”

“Zeb, meet us in the hangar,” Kanan said into his own comm.

Ezra pushed past Kanan and ran toward the hangar.  He didn’t have to look to know Kanan was following him.  As they raced down the hall, Ezra just barely heard the next message relayed to the war room.

“This is Red Five.  I'm going in.”

* * *

 

They made it to the hangar just moments after Sabine’s A-wing landed.  Zeb was the first to reach her, grabbing her in a bone-crushing hug and lifting her off the ground.  He froze, then set her back down.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” he asked.

“No,” she said, leaning her forehead against Zeb’s shoulder.  “Just shaken up is all.”

She caught sight of Ezra’s face and smiled.  “Scared you, huh?”

“A little,” he said.  Sabine reached out and took his hand.

“I'm okay,” she said.  “So is Hera.”

Ezra wasn’t about to say it, but he knew they were all thinking it.  _For now._   Hera was okay _for now._

The four of them were jolted out of their collective worrying by the sound of two words coming out of the still-open comm channel of Sabine’s fighter.  Two words the whole base had been waiting to hear.

“Direct hit.”

Once again, Ezra took off running.  He couldn’t explain it, but he was suddenly driven forward by a need to _see_ this monstrosity destroyed with his own eyes.

As the four of them ran from the hangar, the sky lit up with brilliant orange light.  Ezra stopped in his tracks and Sabine ran right into him.  His breath caught in his throat as he stared up at the fire that filled the sky, drowning out the stars.  It was over.  Maybe not the war, but this one impossible battle was over.  They’d won.  Somehow, by some miracle, the plans they thought had been lost had been brought back to them, they’d been able to find the station’s weakness, and one of their pilots had destroyed it.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sabine throwing her arms around him for a second before letting go and punching his shoulder.

“We did it!” she shouted, turning around to hug Zeb.

“We did.”  Ezra’s voice was quiet.  He still couldn’t really believe it…

Sabine was bouncing up and down beside Kanan, her hands fluttering at her sides.  She froze when she saw the group of fighters descending toward the base.  Ezra saw her eyes darting around as she counted them.  He didn’t bother.  He wasn’t sure he was ready to know exactly how many people they’d lost.

“Fighters are coming back,” he told Kanan.  Probably unnecessary.  He’d be able to hear them.  He braced himself before asking the question he was almost too scared to find out the answer to.  “Can you feel --”

“She’s okay,” Kanan said.  “Hera’s fine.”

Ezra let out a small sigh of relief.  They’d gotten one more miracle today.


End file.
